


Feuilly and His Cat

by thejokerghost



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Bahorel is a Cat, Cats, English Folklore - Freeform, Feuilly Week, Feuilly Week 2020, Folklore, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26519083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thejokerghost/pseuds/thejokerghost
Summary: Feuilly has heard many stories of Paris. He comes to see if he can make himself a fortune.A fusion fic of an English folk tale, Dick Whittington and His Cat.Written for Feuilly Week 2020 because I love this bean and he deserves the world
Relationships: Bahorel & Feuilly (Les Misérables), Feuilly & Jean Prouvaire, Feuilly/Jean Prouvaire
Comments: 2





	Feuilly and His Cat

There was once a young orphan boy named Feuilly. He heard many stories of the great city of Paris, and after having been told all these tales, he made his way there to try and make his fortune. 

But Paris was not as great as the stories had told. Feuilly wandered past the other people on the streets for hours until he finally grew tired and fell asleep on the doorstep of a wealthy merchant. 

He was awoken by a servant boy of about his age, who was scowling at him. “What are you doing here? The master wouldn’t like it if he learned that you slept here.” 

Thankfully, the child of the merchant, Jehan Prouvaire, convinced their father to take pity on Feuilly. He was taken in. The other servant boy’s name was Montparnasse, and he was just as nice as they had first met. He let Feuilly scrub all the floors and dishes while he took the easier jobs of waiting for Monsieur Prouvaire and such, and he often teased and picked on Feuilly. 

Nevertheless, Feuilly settled in. In his spare time, he taught himself to read and write, and he made fans. He saved as much money as he possibly could. The only other thing that bothered him was the abundance of rats that scurried around his room at night that sometimes kept him up. He worked hard and used the money he saved up to buy a beautiful cat whom he named Bahorel. 

Bahorel was a great companion. In addition to killing rats, he also liked to chase off Montparnasse and sometimes even scratch him up. And maybe it was because he was a cat, but he always seemed to listen to Feuilly’s problems. 

One day, Jehan Prouvaire came with news that their father was organizing a business venture across the sea. Montparnasse told Feuilly that it was custom that the servants gave the captain of the ship a gift for good luck. 

Feuilly folded several fans to give to the captain with Bahorel on his lap. 

“Do you think I can make it?” he mused as he finished the final one. “In life, I mean. I do not wish to stay here forever.” 

Bahorel purred and turned his head up, as if saying “Of course, man. I believe in you.” Feuilly stroked his fur in gratitude. 

The day they were to give their gifts, Feuilly could not find his fans. He then noticed Montparnasse showing them off behind his back. 

“You’re a thief.” he stated plainly. 

“Am I?” Montparnasse teased, waving them around like they were nothing. “Do you have anything else to give?” 

“I...” A sad realization came to Feuilly. “I only have my cat.” 

“Then you must give your cat.” Montparnasse laughed cruelly. 

With a heavy heart, Feuilly fetched Bahorel, who purred curiously as he tearfully gave him to the captain, a nice young woman named Cosette. 

Without Bahorel by his side, Feuilly was miserable. Montparnasse teased him even more than before, and since Bahorel was gone, he had no way to relieve his stress. Feuilly resorted to running away and leaving Paris entirely. 

Before he could go, he was stopped by Jehan Prouvaire. 

“Are you leaving?” they asked, swaying back and forth. 

“This isn’t for me.” Feuilly said, staring at his feet. “Paris isn’t for me.” 

“Are you sure?” Jehan bowed their head sadly. “That’s quite a shame. You're a good worker, and very nice.” 

Though he was sorry to say goodbye to the only other being that sympathised with him, Feuilly did not let them stop him. He took off running, not stopping until he was far away from the building. 

Meanwhile, even further away, Captain Cosette was speaking with a foreign king. He was promising many riches in exchange for their goods. Cosette was invited into the palace, and while she was there, she noticed a problem. The palace had a terrible rat infestation. There were rodents everywhere, eating all the food. 

“It’s terrible.” the king agreed. “We have no idea what to do.” 

Cosette left for her ship, and the next day she was back with a cat in her arms. 

Bahorel chased down and killed all the rats. The inhabitants of the palace marvelled at the creature. Evidently, they had never seen a cat before. 

The king offered to pay handsomely for Bahorel. Cosette agreed. 

Back in France, Feuilly had just left Paris and was taking the road back to where he remembered coming from. But just then, he heard the bells of Notre Dame ring, and he could have sworn that they were saying, 

“Turn again, Feuilly, fortunate of Paris.” 

_I, fortunate?_ Feuilly thought, _that cannot be._ Yet curiosity got the best of him and he turned back. 

He was greeted by Cosette, who surprised him by giving the news that she had regretfully sold his cat Bahorel to a king somewhere far away, but for a good profit. She and Monsieur Prouvaire agreed that Feuilly deserved the money as Bahorel had been his cat. 

“I cannot take it.” Feuilly said, to their shock. “Bahorel was my friend. It does not feel right to accept money knowing that I lost him because of it.” 

After a moment’s hesitation, Cosette said, “I think your cat was very fond of you. And I think he would have wanted you to take the money.” 

In the end, Feuilly ended up only accepting a small portion of the money, only enough for him to support himself without having to depend on the Prouvaire’s. The rest, he gave to Cosette and Monsieur Prouvaire. 

One day, Feuilly was sitting with Jehan on the doorstep. Feuilly told them about the bells and their message. 

“Do you think it’s true?” he asked. 

Jehan shrugged. “You were quite fortunate when you got the opportunity to be a rich man. And you are very fortunate to be one of those people who...” They swung their legs and smiled. “... who does not care for that kind of money.” 

“But hey, your life isn’t over yet.” They hopped off of the doorstep. “And I would like to see how our fortune plays out.” They offered their hand. 

Feuilly grinned and accepted it. “Yeah. Let’s do it.” 

The two went off hand in hand, the first thing they did being getting a cat whom they named Bahorel Jr. 


End file.
